Meet The Next Director Of The Barnes Foundation, Thom Collins
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- A new Executive Director and President will take over at the Barnes Foundation in March, after a national search by its Board of Trustees.
Thom Collins is described by the search committee as 'a national leader in the visual arts, and is recognized for his expertise and breadth of knowledge in education and art history.'
"I personally am a testament to the power of the Barnes Foundation education programs," Collins says.
The 46-year old Collins grew up in Media, Delaware County. "My childhood memories of my visits to the Barnes, as well as the PMA, they come flooding back, as I stand here," he says.
Collins spent the last five years as director of the Perez Art Museum in Miami, and oversaw construction of an internationally acclaimed building that sits on an elevated platform and below a canopy, near Biscayne Bay.
Collins will succeed Derek Gillman, who stepped down last year after running the Barnes for seven years. Margaret (Peg) Zminda, the Foundation's CFO & COO, has served as acting director of the museum.
Collins says as he sketches in his mind a strategic plan for the next five years, "The key to the future of the Barnes is evolving Dr. Barnes' legacy - expanding and adapting his approach to the interpretation of the visual arts for new audiences."
The Barnes Foundation, home to one of the world's greatest collections of Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings - including works by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse - is now in its third year on Museum Row along the Ben Franklin Parkway.
It relocated in 2012 from its original home, built in the 1920's in Merion.
